Sundance Martial Arts is sending a trio of athletes to the International Taekwon-Do Federation world championships this fall in Benidorm, Spain.
Brad Cotey, 21, qualified for Team Canada by earning silver in men’s heavyweight black belt sparring at the national championships recently in Quebec. Teammate Abbie Bennett, 17, won silver in junior girls black belt light heavyweight sparring, and Kelly Kinniburgh, 32, also took silver in women’s light heavyweight sparring.
Out of the nine B.C. competitors making the national team, three are members of Sundance, which operates facilities in Vernon and Kelowna.
Meanwhile, Vernon’s Brett Bell, 17, turned in a fourth-place showing in junior boys light heavyweight sparring in Quebec. Cotey earned bronze in men’s first-degree black belt patterns, and Bennett was third in junior girls second-degree patterns.
“All of our competitors have been training hard for months for this tournament and all the hard work and efforts have paid off,” said Sundance head instructor David White, a fifth-degree black belt.
